Warriors react to Cavaliers’ chaotic trade deadline

LeBron James (23) reacts to a call in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the Cleveland Cavaliers at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, December 25, 2017.

LeBron James (23) reacts to a call in the first half as the Golden...

Late Thursday morning, before stepping on the court for shoot-around, Warriors players thumbed through their phones to read up on a flurry of trade-deadline moves. By that point, the Cavaliers were in the middle of a roster overhaul that could change the landscape of the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland, which has dropped 14 of its past 22 games, unloaded six players (Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, Dwyane Wade, Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert) and a first-round pick to bring back four players (Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., Rodney Hood, George Hill). Along the way, the Cavaliers got younger and friendlier, essentially pressing reboot on a derailed season in hopes of making a fourth consecutive NBA Finals appearance and enticing LeBron James to re-sign this summer.

“It's interesting, really interesting,” Golden State forward Draymond Green said. “Feels like they made some good moves. I don't know. We'll see. … That's a completely different team than the one we faced the last three years.”

Shipping Thomas — the centerpiece of Boston’s August deal for Kyrie Irving — to the Lakers for Clarkson and Nance was the blockbuster move that set Cleveland’s day in motion.

Since returning in early January from a hip injury that sidelined him three months, Thomas had struggled to fit in with his new team, on the court and off. In addition to shooting 36.1 percent from the field, including 25.3 percent from three-point range, he repeatedly blasted the Cavaliers in postgame interviews.

Replacing Thomas is a combination of Hill and Clarkson, two players who complement each other well. Hill is a solid three-point shooter adept at switching off screens and guarding multiple positions. Though not much of a long-range marksman, Clarkson is a skilled playmaker who should benefit from the spacing James provides.

Nance, at 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, is a small-ball big man who offers Cleveland much-needed energy. Like Golden State’s Jordan Bell, he runs the floor, throws down alley-oop dunks and defends multiple positions. After falling out of favor in Utah, Hood figures to give the Cavaliers another perimeter scorer to help lighten James’ burden.

“They got better,” Warriors forward Kevin Durant said. “They made moves they wanted to make, and I’m sure they’re going to make it work over there.”

It was a high-risk, high-reward day for Cleveland. With the Cavaliers’ season veering off track and no fix in sight, general manager Koby Altman knew he needed to remake a flawed roster. His slew of deadline moves appear to have buoyed Cleveland’s chances of getting by Boston, Toronto and others for another NBA Finals.

However, questions remain: Can head coach Tyronn Lue meld four new rotation players into his system midseason? How will Clarkson, Nance, Hood and Hill adapt to playing alongside James, whose autocratic leadership style doesn’t suit everyone? And what if the Cavaliers still fail to reach the sport’s summit come June?

By sending Clarkson and Nance to Cleveland, the Lakers freed up enough cap space to offer max contracts this summer to James and Oklahoma City’s Paul George. The Cavaliers might be in the unenviable position of knowing that they helped service their own demise.

Such possibilities weren’t Altman’s concern Thursday, however. On a day that will go a long way in determining Cleveland’s future, he just wanted to give his team a chance — a chance at making the Finals, at keeping James and, ultimately, at dethroning Golden State as NBA heavyweights.